A Algae
Simple plants made of basic cells either alone or in long chains.
In large quantities it appears as a water plant with no stem or
leaves. The most familiar larger algae are seaweeds.

Allosaurus
This fierce two legged carnivore lived in the Late Jurassic period. It inhabited
the plains, and normally hunted alone. It would hunt in groups to
tackle the largest prey. It was approximately 12 metres long, five
metres high and weighed up to three tonnes.

Ammonite
Spiral-shelled molluscs, related to the modern day octopus and squid.
The soft body occupies the last chamber of the shell, the others
are filled with air to make it buoyant.

Amphibian
The first air-breathing land vertebrates. Fossil evidence suggests that they
appeared around 360 million years ago in the late Devonian period.
Directly descended from fish, these creatures represent a transitional
stage between water dwellers and land dwellers. In the early stage
of their life ampgibians have gills. These develop into lungs as
they becomes adults. The word "amphibian" comes from the Greek "amphi"
meaning both and "bios" meaning life. This is because the animal
can live both in and out of the water.

Anatotitan
A herbivorous dinosaur, of the
Late Cretaceous period, Anatotitan
was one of the last duckbilled dinosaurs. Its name literally means
"giant duck". It had a long wide beak, with hundreds of cheek teeth
behind it. It could be up to 13 metres long, and weigh up to 5 tonnes.

Angiosperm
Angiosperms or flowering plants are the most recent major group
of plants to evolve. They first appeared early in the Cretaceous period and dominated
the world's flora by the end of it. Angiosperms have seeds inside
a nutritious fruit which gives them a better start in life. Fertilisation
can occur by the wind, or very often by flying insects and other
animals, enabling flowering plants to spread rapidly.

Ankylosaurus
Literally "fused" or "stiff lizard". A medium sized, herbivorous dinosaur of the
Late Cretaceous period. It had a heavily
plated back and a club tail. All its bones had fused together so
thickly that there was very little room for a brain. It was up to
10 metres long and weighed up to 7 tonnes.

Apatosaurus
A large four-footed herbivorous sauropod dinosaur up to 21m long
and weighing more than 20 tonnes, which lived during the Upper Jurassic
period. Apatosaurus used to be known by the name Brontosaurus.

Araucaria
This is the name for a group of ancient trees that survive to this
day. They are tall, evergreen coniferous trees which have cones
and needle-like leaves. One of the modern representatives of this
group is the Monkey Puzzle tree.

Archaeopteryx
The oldest known which lived in the Late Jurassic period. It is
known from only six skeletons and a few other disputed remains,
all recovered from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. Archaeopteryx
was about the size of a crow with well developed feathers on its
forelimbs. However it retained several reptilian features, including
a long bony tail, teeth in its jaws and clawed fingers on the wings.
It is believed to have evolved from the dinosaurs from the dromaeosaur
group.

Archosaur
Literally "ancient reptiles". These include the thecodonts or socket-toothed
reptiles, which in turn gave
rise to the pterosaurs, crocodiles, dinosaurs
and birds.

Arthropod
Invertebrate animals with jointed legs and an external skeleton
that has to be periodically shed as growth proceeds. The three principal
groups are the centipedes, millipedes and insects; the spiders and
scorpions; and the crustaceans. The ancestors of all these three
main groups were well developed by the end of the Cambrian period.

B

Baryonyx
A large 9 metre long theropod from the early Cretaceous period.
With a long crocodile-like head and relatively long arms with huge
curved claws on the thumbs, Baryonyx may have been primarily a fish-eater.
It is known from a relatively well-preserved skeleton found in a
quarry in Surrey, England by an amateur fossil hunter in 1983.

Belemnite
A soft bodied, squid-like carnivore that lived in the sea.
It caught small fish and marine organisms with its tentacles and
ate them with its beak-like mouth. It had had hooks on its tentacles
instead of suckers. Common in the waters of the Jurassic period, it is now extinct.

Bennettite
The name for a group of ancient plants with a bare central trunk
topped by a crown of leaves. Similar in appearance to the cycad, these plants thrived on the
plains in the Triassic and Jurassic periods and became extinct
at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Bird
Birds are feathered, egg-laying animals with a high metabolism which
enables most species to fly. The first birds appear in the Jurassic
period. The group of reptiles that the birds evolved from is still
a matter for debate among palaeontologists.

Bird-hipped
Bird-hipped dinosaurs, or Ornithschia are one of the
two main sub divisions of the dinosaurs. They were all herbivores.
They evolved in Triassic period and the group
died out with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period.The name derives
from the distinctive arrangement of the pelvis.

Butterfly
A type of insect. Butterflies, along with moths and skippers are
insects classified as Lepidoptera. Today there are several thousand
species distributed world-wide. They evolved in the Cretaceous period alongside the
flowering plants which they fed on, and pollinated in return. They
were the most recent major group of insects to have evolved.

Algae
Simple plants made of basic cells either alone or in long chains. In large
quantities it appears as a water plant with no stem or leaves. The most
familiar larger algae are seaweeds.

Allosaurus
This fierce two legged carnivore
lived in the Late Jurassic
period. It inhabited the plains, and normally hunted alone. It would hunt
in groups to tackle the largest prey. It was approximately 12 metres long,
five metres high and weighed up to three tonnes.

Ammonite
Spiral-shelled molluscs, related to the modern day octopus and squid. The
soft body occupies the last chamber of the shell, the others are filled
with air to make it buoyant.

Amphibian
The first air-breathing land vertebrates. Fossil
evidence suggests that they appeared around 360 million years ago in the
late Devonian period. Directly descended from fish, these creatures represent
a transitional stage between water dwellers and land dwellers. In the early
stage of their life ampgibians have gills. These develop into lungs as they
becomes adults. The word "amphibian" comes from the Greek "amphi" meaning
both and "bios" meaning life. This is because the animal can live both in
and out of the water.

Anatotitan
A herbivorous
dinosaur, of the Late Cretaceous
period, Anatotitan was one of the last duckbilled dinosaurs. Its
name literally means "giant duck". It had a long wide beak, with hundreds
of cheek teeth behind it. It could be up to 13 metres long, and weigh up
to 5 tonnes.

Angiosperm
Angiosperms or flowering plants are the most recent major group of plants
to evolve. They first appeared early in the Cretaceous
period and dominated the world's flora by the end of it. Angiosperms have
seeds inside a nutritious fruit which gives them a better start in life.
Fertilisation can occur by the wind, or very often by flying insects and
other animals, enabling flowering plants to spread rapidly.

Ankylosaurus
Literally "fused" or "stiff lizard". A medium sized, herbivorous
dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous
period. It had a heavily plated back and a club tail. All its bones had
fused together so thickly that there was very little room for a brain. It
was up to 10 metres long and weighed up to 7 tonnes.

Apatosaurus
A large four-footed herbivorous sauropod dinosaur up to 21m long and weighing
more than 20 tonnes, which lived during the Upper Jurassic period. Apatosaurus
used to be known by the name Brontosaurus.

Araucaria
This is the name for a group of ancient trees that survive to this day.
They are tall, evergreen coniferous trees which have cones and needle-like
leaves. One of the modern representatives of this group is the Monkey Puzzle
tree.

Archaeopteryx
The oldest known which lived in the Late Jurassic period. It is known from
only six skeletons and a few other disputed remains, all recovered from
the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. Archaeopteryx was about the size of
a crow with well developed feathers on its forelimbs. However it retained
several reptilian features, including a long bony tail, teeth in its jaws
and clawed fingers on the wings. It is believed to have evolved from the
dinosaurs from the dromaeosaur group.

Archosaur
Literally "ancient reptiles". These include the thecodonts or socket-toothed
reptiles,
which in turn gave rise to the pterosaurs,
crocodiles, dinosaurs and birds.

Arthropod
Invertebrate animals with jointed legs and an external skeleton that has
to be periodically shed as growth proceeds. The three principal groups are
the centipedes, millipedes and insects; the spiders and scorpions; and the
crustaceans. The ancestors of all these three main groups were well developed
by the end of the Cambrian period.

B

Baryonyx
A large 9 metre long theropod from the early Cretaceous period. With a long
crocodile-like head and relatively long arms with huge curved claws on the
thumbs, Baryonyx may have been primarily a fish-eater. It is known from
a relatively well-preserved skeleton found in a quarry in Surrey, England
by an amateur fossil hunter in 1983.

Belemnite
A soft bodied, squid-like carnivore
that lived in the sea. It caught small fish and marine organisms with its
tentacles and ate them with its beak-like mouth. It had had hooks on its
tentacles instead of suckers. Common in the waters of the Jurassic
period, it is now extinct.

Bennettite
The name for a group of ancient plants with a bare central trunk topped
by a crown of leaves. Similar in appearance to the cycad,
these plants thrived on the plains in the Triassic
and Jurassic
periods and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous
period.

Bird
Birds are feathered, egg-laying animals with a high metabolism which enables
most species to fly. The first birds appear in the Jurassic period. The
group of reptiles that the birds evolved from is still a matter for debate
among palaeontologists.

Bird-hipped
Bird-hipped dinosaurs, or Ornithschia
are one of the two main sub divisions of the dinosaurs. They were all herbivores.
They evolved in Triassic
period and the group died out with the mass extinction at the end of the
Cretaceous
period.The name derives from the distinctive arrangement of the pelvis.

Butterfly
A type of insect. Butterflies, along with moths and skippers are insects
classified as Lepidoptera. Today there are several thousand species distributed
world-wide. They evolved in the Cretaceous
period alongside the flowering plants which they fed on, and pollinated
in return. They were the most recent major group of insects to have evolved.